Saturday 29 May 2010

Houston... the allotment has landed... HELP!!!!

Not long ago I put my name down on the council list for an allotment. When I say 'not long ago ' I mean... about three weeks ago. I settled down to wait, amidst advice from friends and family that the wait could be anything from 6 months to 11 years!! Lots of time to study gardening books and get my own little back garden ready for the summer.

However, yesterday I arrived home from work to find a letter waiting for me ... offering me an allotment only 4 minutes walk away from my house!! A plot of 50m square ( that's about 30 feet by 15 feet I think ) for the princely rental sum of .... wait for it..... £10 per year.



I couldn't wait to go and find it! I strolled up the road and, after a little hunting, could see the allotments behind a couple of houses.Eventually I even found the entrance! It is a well hidden little plot to say the least! I couldn't actually get in to see my plot, as the gate was locked, but I am going to arrange to go and see it.

The big question is... should I take it? Do I have the time to care for it properly? It is only a little plot, but it will still take some clearing. My sister-in-law appears to have got cold feet over it so it would be down to me... Although my neighbour has offered to help a bit if I install a beer fridge!!

What do you think? Do you have an allotment and can you advise me please??!! I will take photos when I go to see it and will post asap. You never know - I could end up having a veggie blog as well as all the others!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well you are obviously creative with the quality of the above sketch so I think you should have no problem in maintaining this allotment and having it looking fabulous in no time. And with a beer fridge there's so much opportunity!! Good luck with it and make sure you post staged progress.

CJ xx

Urban Cynic said...

It depends if you have the time. There's a 3 year waiting list in Brighton but I know a couple of people who have them who are constantly worried about them! When they go away they worry about it being watered (some enter into watering pacts with neighbouring plot owners)& they feel guilty for either being there or not being there!

It could be a great place to take the boys though & let them have their own little strip. Kids eat better food if they've grown it themselves I hear. Or you could just grow some basic bits & lots of flowers.

Maybe research which things would do well without much input (in case you're busy running, blogging, mothering, daughtering, drawing, wifing, sleeping, or working) then build it up from there. x